Young children are growing up in a digital world, engaging with technology on a daily basis. Their voices need be heard when it comes to digital experiences, and as adults, we need to engage in critical reflection.
CELA Early Education Specialist Jannelle Gallagher recently attended the 2025 Digital Childhoods Summit in Canberra. The summit drew on the diverse work undertaken by over 200 researchers to inform and provoke discussion and thinking for policy makers, educators, and advocates to explore how technology is shaping children’s lives, and what adults can do to support safe, ethical, and meaningful digital experiences.
The two-day summit featured an inspiring lineup of speakers and topics, spanning children’s privacy, digital wellbeing, literacy, ethics, and family engagement. A central theme echoed throughout: the digital world is an inherent part of childhood today.
Here, Jannelle shares three key takeaways for early education professionals to reflect on.
By Jannelle Gallagher
1. The digital world is complex, but that’s no excuse to avoid it
One of the most powerful statements I heard at the Digital Childhoods Summit was this: Just because the digital world is complex doesn’t mean we shouldn’t engage with it. That idea really stayed with me and summed up a feeling I’ve had for some time now.
In early childhood education, digital play is often approached with hesitation or even fear. I hear educators say that digital tools don’t belong in play-based pedagogy, or that AI is too risky to explore with children. But digital experiences are already embedded in children’s lives. That means they are already part of their play, whether we acknowledge it or not.
While visiting a service recently I was invited to play in a café which had been created by the children. After being offered the menu I realised I had no money, and my presence was required in another part of the service. I asked for the name of the café so that when I was ready to return I could ring ahead and place my order. Without hesitation, the child behind the counter said, “That’s fine- just scan this,” and handed me a pretend QR code she’d made. "You’ll find everything you need in there,” she said.
That moment stopped me in my tracks. She was interpreting the world through the technology she sees used every day, and the space she was playing in had not really caught up.
And it’s not just anecdotal. At the summit, we heard from the ACODA study that 96.6 per cent of homes with young children have a mobile phone, and more than 70 per cent have a tablet. Children are using these tools, and we need to meet them where they are.
2. We must listen to children’s voices in the digital space
Another strong theme that ran through the summit was the importance of really listening to children when it comes to digital technologies. Not just in how we use tools, but in why we use them, and what children want or need from them.
I keep coming back to this question: What proportion of the child’s voice is actually reflected in the digital services we provide? Too often we tell ourselves that children are too young to be consulted, but this is their world. They understand it in ways we often overlook.
One of the reports shared at the summit revealed that by the age of five, the average child in Australia already has over 17,000 digital data points recorded about them. That blew my mind. Think about what that means for their digital identity and how little say they’ve had in creating it.
We talked a lot about the platforms we use in early learning, especially those that document children’s learning or store photos. These tools can be valuable, but they also contribute to a child’s digital footprint, often without their knowledge or informed consent.
By the end of the summit, there was a clear call to action. We must include children’s voices in the design of digital tools and services. Not just older children, but especially children in our early education spaces.
3. Build digital kindness and critical thinking from the early years
My third big takeaway is about ethics. In countries like Finland and Norway, children are taught ethics as part of their schooling. That’s what we need here too, starting in the early years.
We need to be helping children become critical consumers of digital content. We need to be talking about digital kindness, what it looks like to be respectful, thoughtful and safe online. I use the term “digital kindness” because it gets to the heart of what’s often missing.
If we don’t explicitly teach kindness in digital spaces, children might think those spaces don’t have consequences. That’s where the harm begins. We already see it in the way some people behave online - anonymous, cruel and disconnected from empathy. But that starts somewhere. We have an opportunity to shape something different.
One example that really stood out for me was a story shared at the summit about how children’s use of iPads changed after COVID. Before the pandemic, the room would fill with chatter and laughter when children gathered around a screen. After COVID, they went silent. That silence was learned, because during lockdowns, many were handed a device with the message: “Please take this device for some quiet time while I work.” We need to help children unlearn that.
And it’s not just about the technology, it’s about being with children the digital space. Too often, we give children something to do and walk away. We’re not with them. But digital exploration deserves the same adult presence, curiosity and joy as any other part of learning. We don’t need to take over, we just need to be there to encourage, support and guide children to navigate the digital landscape.
From research to action
The Digital Childhoods Summit was convened by the Digital Child research centre and featured voices from organisations like UNICEF, ACECQA and the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.
The digital world is already here. Children are already in it. We need to meet them there with curiosity, care and courage, by providing clear guidance and meaningful engagement.
Reflective questions
Further reading and resources
Digital Child papers and articles
Stories for digital children competition for 5-12 year olds
Children and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in Australia: The Big Challenges report
CELA professional development relating to this topic
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About Jannelle
An early childhood education professional for more than 40 years, Jannelle is a key specialist in CELA's learning and development team. She has worked as a teacher, director, mentor, lecturer, advocate, academic, and researcher. Jannelle has a strong understanding of different regulatory frameworks and has repeatedly built robust governance structures from scratch, that support strong educators and services. Her work always includes a focus on building sustainable mechanisms, and supporting professional development that enables educators to better support themselves and their colleagues.
Jannelle’s experience as a practitioner is underpinned by her commitment to research and ongoing learning. She has travelled to experience early education in Italy, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, East Timor and Vanuatu. She has co-authored several articles for international journals and reference books and contributed to the book Educator Yarns, published by Koori Curriculum. Jannelle holds a Master of Early Childhood Education from University of Newcastle.